Rafael Nadal and Bernard Tomic will battle for a semifinal spot in Stuttgart on Friday. Gael Monfils and Philipp Kohlschreiber are also in action.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (5) Bernard Tomic
Nadal and Tomic will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Mercedes Cup on Friday. Both of their previous encounters have come at the Australian Open and Nadal has never surendered a set. He prevailed 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 in 2011 and advanced via retirement in 2014 after taking the first set 6-4.
Nadal’s grass-court campaign got off to a bit of a rocky start on Thursday but he fought past Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-2 after two hours and 40 minutes. The 10th-ranked Spaniard is now 30-10 on the season and looking for just his second title of the year. Tomic did not drop a set in victories earlier this week over Jan-Lennard Struff and Tommy Haas. The 24th-ranked Australian has always been adept on grass and he should have no trouble handling Nadal’s heavy topspin with his two-handed backhand–especially on this particular surface. With the top seed still struggling, a confident Tomic will have a good chance at pulling off an upset.
Pick: Tomic in 3
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(4) Gael Monfils vs. (6) Philipp Kohlschreiber
Kohlschreiber and Monfils will be facing each other for the 12th time in their careers on Friday. Monfils is leading the head-to-head series 9-2, but Kohlschreiber won their only previous grass-court encounter. That also came in Germany during the buildup to Wimbledon, as Kohlschreiber treated the home crowd to a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the 2011 Halle semifinals. The two veterans most recently squared off earlier this season in a Davis Cup hard-court rubber, with Monfils going into hostile territory and notching a point for France via a 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(4) decision.
A difficult draw is off to a remarkably routine start for Kohlschreiber, who is a mediocre 16-13 on the season following a pair of wins this week. The world No. 29 disposed of Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4 before coasting past Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-4. Monfils got a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed then held off Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-6(6), 7-6(5) on Wednesday. The world No. 16 is a solid 23-9 for his 2015 campaign and he is coming off a fourth-round showing at Roland Garros. Current form favors Monfils, but the surface and home-court advantage should see Kohlschreiber through to a hard-fought victory.
Pick: Kohlschreiber in 3
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Nadal and Monfils
Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
Hope this is RD jinxing!
I watched the Tomic lst set. A hampered Haas gave Tomic the opportunities to unleash his sometimes deadly strokes but the Australian was also making a lot of errors in that set.
Nadal in three sets
You should know Ricky by now, @ed251137, he loves being hated by Rafans! Since this is a predictions blog, I predict Ricky will be picking against Rafa for the rest of the tournament!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9vto-eWPaY
R E … is all we ever asked for : – )
Rafa;
LaMonf
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHR2vZkUcAAHPrM.png
Ricky is being gracious about it, he’s not even saying that there will be an upset just that there’s a good chance and I agree with him but I think Rafa wants to win this and he’ll find a way to do it.
ristb.. what’s with the dancing video? 🙂 as funny as it is..
@Shireling1, I thought that little girl would articulate better my plea to Ricky: give Rafa a little R.E.S.P.E.C.T…………….
Btw, my head agrees with Ricky’s pick, my heart says, NO, NO, NO…….. A little respect (just a little)…………..
Monfils won the 1st set 7-5 and Kohlschreiber is 4-1 up in the 2nd, looks like there will be a 3rd
Ricky enjoys courting disdain from Rafans. Don’t feed the troll 🙂 🙂 🙂
nadline,
Prior to the match, you briefly mentioned it the other day, I was just wondering why Rafa hasn’t yet married the girlfriend… I also agree that he has to man up in the perspective and was wondering if you or anyone else has some insight..
Shireling, reply on the Rafa thread.
@Shireling1, here’s my insight:
@Shireling1 and @nadline10, lay off Rafa’s marital status! You wanna poke your noses THERE, watch the Kardashians!
*grrrrrr*
Seriously though @Shireling1, I think what’s important is what makes Rafa and Xisca happy. I think both have managed their relationship very well so far, at least the little we see in the public space.
One of my picks La Monf, is through. Please Rafa, make this a rout!
just came back from my running.. I see that the match already started 2-2. Thx nadline, I’ll go to the Rafa thread. I’m only interested in so far his lack of ‘maturity’ on that side reverberates somehow overall, tennis included… but rafaisthebest is right, as long as they’re happy it’s ok… back to the match.. anybody watching? how’s our boy doing today?
@Shireling1, you’re a runner too!
*bows*
*claps hands*
*salutes*
rafa playing much better and he has been aggressive. He has broken to go up 4-3. Rafa’s using the backhand slice very nicely today.
logged onto the stuttgart website just as rafa breaks….! i see that bernie has had no break points which is encouraging…..
how is rafa looking out there????
thx vamosrafa , Ricky ought to put you on board !
Lol…will keep you updated 🙂
i see that bernie has won just 2 points on rafa’s second serve…that’s very surprising!
what i love about rafa is that there is never any drama when he is serving a set out…
always rock solid!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHTWTUfWgAAZjSh.png
very surprising that rafa has more aces than bernie…6/5
Rafa breaks straight away in the 2nd set !
Rafa played a brilliant set of grass court tennis.
His backhand has been so aggressive! He is stepping up the court to take time away from Tomic. His ROS has been very aggressive today more like what it used to be when he was winning so many matches on grass.
Like yesterday, he first serve is doing plenty of damage. He faced two break pts while serving for the set and he erased them both times with aces!
Importantly, he has looked confident and not afraid to go for his shit. Forehand DTL is also coming into play now.
He is up a break now in the second. VAMOS RAFA
great that rafa has been playing with so much confidence and aggression….that’s more important than anything else….
vamosrafa,
I guess that I am going to have to rely on your updates about the match. I have no idea what is going and why the match isn’t being shown now, unless they are going to show it on a tape delay.
oh dear, rafa gets broken…..just when things were going swimmingly….
Tomic broke back
My streaming for disrupted. How did he get broken?
he got broken because your streaming got disrupted.. I’m just looking at the scores (thx hawkeye)
hahaha
rafa living dangerously. hope vamosrafa can see what’s going on as I only have live scores…
hope the heebie jeebies aren’t back….
I don’t know what is going on with the tennis channel. They are showing Rafa’s match with Baggy from yesterday.
This is crazy!
Tomic seems to be serving better
has rafa had a break point since breaking first game??? the stats say bernie is returning his serve much better as well as holding easily…..
is this because bernie is playing better or rafa getting tight again?
I am just happy that Rafa is winning so far!
Rafa hasn’t had so many aces in a long, long time 🙂
I am hoping that he can work out the issues with his serve. That would be a big help on the grass.
I am following the live score online. It says that now it’s a tb in set two!
yep, 2-1 Rafa, tomic serving (they’ve broken each other once already)
A very solid TB so far… taking command of the points and continues to serve so well
Tomic squeezes out a brilliant forehand passing shot down the line… it is 4-3 now! rafa approached the net with a sliced forehand ….
Tomic saves match point with an ace. Rafa striking his forehand with authority now
second set bernie! bugger!
Argh! Tomic takes the tie break :/
My stream is misbehaving a lot now so that is why I am unable to watch all the points
Ah well, good 2nd set for Rafa anyways
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHTjjTiWcAADBQC.png
Rafa’s playing the right way… he will keep on improving if he stays on this path
bernie’s numbers for the second set are quite a bit better than rafa’s …..
Yes, I noticed that. Tomic’s serving stats are unreal!
Come on Rafa! Take this in three!
vamos! rafa breaks!
YAY! That’s a good sign!
Rafa stuck on 10 aces
The score online is now 3-0 for Rafa! Maybe Tomic ran out of gas after winning that tb!
my stream not steady enough to judge that…but I think rafa is playing solid
I will get to see it later on when they replay it on the tennis channel.
I just checked and the score is 3-1, so Tomic got on the board.
I love the Delta airline seats. They must be travelling 1st class. 🙂
Rafa pulled off a beautiful forehand lob winner but Tomic wins the game at 30. 3-1 rafa
Wow great serving ! rafa holds for 4-1
I like this response from Rafa after losing the tb. This is good to see!
Remember that rafa puts in more power behind his serve when he is playing on grass. The highest number of aces he has scored in a match came against Andreas Beck in the first rnd of Wimb 2010. I think it was 17 aces….
Sorry I think he hit 18 aces against Agassi in wimby 2006 (rafa said back then that it was his best serving performance ever) and then he matched this number with 18 against beck in 2010
Yes, good point. The serve overall is a much more important weapon on grass.
I am trying to remember that match. My memory isn’t what it used to be! 🙂
true! Roddick said after losing to rafa in the semis of queens 2008 that rafa’s serve becomes a real weapon on grass. He also commented on how the skiddy surface helps his slice serve….
Rafa relies on his slider out-wide to save another break point…deuce # 2 , 4-2
Rafa holds! 5-2!
5-2 Rafa, great – 13 aces too (can’t remember the last time he had so many)
Rafa played a poor point and adv Tomic… rafa controls the rally with very heavy forehand inside in, LOADS of spin, and comes to the net to finish the point with an easy forehand volley.
oh, you already mentioned it.. sometimes I don’t see your posts and then they all come at once.
Hey no problem! We can sometimes post so close together and it gets a little crazy here.
I am going back and forth with the atp website and that definish site.
Got to keep up!
yeeeeiiii VAMOS RAFA !
Thirteen aces! Wow! That’s a good thing!
Excellent win rafa!!!!
GSM – Rafa
How much should I charge Rafa for stress suffered during his matches?
Vamos Rafa!
Rafa wins the third set and the match 6-3!
This is a really good win against a tricky opponent! Well done Rafa! 🙂
congrats! rafa through to the semis 😀 good quality match and a very positive win! rafa’s reaction showed this win meant a lot! he was pumped 🙂
on definish site is says 14 aces
so good to hear that rafa was playing with confidence and aggression again!!
is he finally turning the corner? on grass of all surfaces???!!!!
Let’s hope so! Who does he play next? Monfils?
yes, think so….if he plays with confidence and aggression again he can definitely win….as Monfil’s headcase shots always give you free points at crucial moments
amy,
Thanks! I didn’t check the draw. Monfils is playing well now and his game seems well suited for grass, so I expect him to make a match of it.
However, as you said Monfils is not strong mentally. His shot selection at times can be either baffling or brilliant.
Knowing that Rafa is serving a lot of aces gives me a good feeling. That will help playing Monfils. Rafa’s had two good wins here, so I am looking forward to the next one.
I truly hope that I will be able to finally see it live!
nny, why on earth did they show the match with baggy??! that is so bizarre as to be wilfully perverse….
i am hoping that headcase Monfils makes a strong showing tomorrow…..
Now rafa has his doubles match coming up after ‘suitable rest’ so more serving, returning and volleying practice!
The decision to play an extra event has worked really well. Even if he loses to Monfils, this has been a very good week. I think he will beat Monfils in 3 sets….
One wish I have is for Rafa to hold on to his serve easily and more to the point not drop his serve so much.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHTtnY6UYAAWTeF.png
he did serve some double faults at key moments to give away break points…i take it that this was because of his trying to go for more on the serve?
for some DFs, yes! he is trying to do a little more with his 2nd serve as well I feel.
14 aces is awesome! more awesome is saving 8/9 break points 🙂
yes that is the old rafa stepping it up on break points…!
Yes, I believe that with Rafa going for more on his first serves, then he will make more DF’s. Normally he would not DF this much, but if he’s going for more aces that it can happen.
vamosrafa,
Sorry, but when I posted my comment I didn’t see yours up yet! 🙂
If he plays at this level he has a good chance of winning the tournament
would be ironic for rafa to win only his second title of the year on grass no?
What I love is that stat posted by vamosrafa – Rafa saving 8/9 break points! That is the best thing I have seen in a long time! It’s so crucial for Rafa to make sure he does not get broken so often.
Some very good things to take out of this match!
He has to go for his serves, better a double-fault than loosing a 15-shot rally.
Yes, I agree!
Watch out all England club, the bull likes the pastures this year
ha ha, the bull’s horns will be tearing up the snooty lawns of the all england club….
rafa will be putting the other players out to grass so that he will have the lawns to himself in the end…
amy,
Well put! I like it! 🙂
good god! we are all wildly chipper after this win aren’t we??!
shows how starved we have been of the real rafa…
c’mon rafa give us out fill….!
nny, are you sure you are getting to see the monfils match?? that they won’t show a repeat of this one??
Great job, Rafa!
http://ui.crawlersmileys.com/files/smileys/07/02/98.gif
amy,
Sorry but I had to get off the site for a bit.
All I can do is hope! At some point, I think the tennis channel does televise these 250 tournaments live. If not, oh well! Then I will have come here for the live blogging and see it later.
Honestly, as long as Rafa wins I don’t care! 🙂
rafaisthebest and me: 100%
Ricky: 0%
The irony is that I based my predictions entirely on Ricky’s analysis, only our conclusions were different. So even though Ricky gets 0 for predictions, he gets 100 for analysis!
To be fair, Ricky didn’t entirely venture a win for Tomic, and he did take the 2nd set so not so far off the mark but, true, in your face Ricky 😉
Rafa’s left foot is bothering him. He got it re-taped after the 2nd set:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHTxIBzUcAE7-1D.png
what’s wrong with rafa’s foot??
Probably a blister:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHT1fT3WoAAba7X.jpg
Doesn’t seem serious, I doubt it’s a Djokeresque appearing/disappearing bone displacement…
Rain stops play. Glad Rafa’s QF match is finished.
Rafa’s on-court interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-Q3-yu37YM
Wahts this foot issue? Anything wrong? Or just some tape?
Sanju,
Don’t worry. It appears to be minor!
I think as long as Nadal’s winning, we need not worry about his injuries.
He is used to playing through pain.
Yes but what is the issue?
I think though Rafa has underperformed big time this season, he has still made many QF and SF
1 Title, 1 Finalist, 3 SF, 4 QF
TennisTV @TennisTV 28m28 minutes ago
#Nadal: “I played a good match and am very happy to be in the semi-final”
Embedded image permalink
Thx so much augusta08 for your ultra-fast images and videos. It was so nice to see how he closed out the match. Brings back very good memories.
Do you think we can say, sunshine returns to tennis? Or should we wait till Nadal bites another slam trophy?
Thanks augusta for posting stats and videos so fast!
Wait until he bites another M1000 or slam trophy.
^^Hahaha! @Mary’s a Rafan! Welcome aboard the Rafan Express @Mary! You know the drill: there will be highs and lows, TGV-esque highs and snail-esque lows but we take ’em all in stride we Rafans!
Personally, I am happy he appears healthy for now (odd blister or so excepted…….), he will soon be munching on a big jug, of that I am certain……………..
Supposedly blisters..He had this yesterday too and day before in practice
Both my picks came good today, yes!
Rafa is in the semis, that’s what I was hoping for pre-tourney, expectations and desires met, well done Rafa.
LaMonf appears to be on a mission, so is Rafa. Will be a cracker!
should rafa be playing doubles today with blisters on his foot??!
didn’t think he looked exactly thrilled at the prospect…..
he’s playing in queens next week so he doesn’t want to go in with a gammy foot…has already had a lot of practice (if you include at least one more singles match)
thanks very much for that video augusta!
My thoughts exactly, amy.
Hope he doesn’t. Agree @amy, Stuttgart’s already delivered much in terms of practice. He needs to look after his body now in readiness for Wimbers………….
Blisters is not that bad 🙂
not if you are rafa…if it is rafa will probably turn out to be a rare form of mongolian blisters which takes at least 2 years to heal…..
You are in form @amy!
#MongolianBlister
and he will still play!
Remember the monster blister he had years ago where he couldn’t even walk in the morning and still played (Rome? 2007? from memory…) a match to honour his opponent and paying spectators?
that was 8 years ago when he had a lot of playing time in front of him…(also 8 years in terms of rafa’s playing style is a lot lot longer)
there is a time for quixotic gestures and a time for legitimate self-interest….
glad to see today’s decision
it is true that the spanish are prone to quixotic dreams, the religion cervantes gave birth too… and it even works, witness the little boy from the island bearing flowers…
Rafa played a very solid match…I am pleased with what I am seeing…he has already met my expectations for this tourney…from now on everything is simply icing on the cake…I love the fact that he is serving well…and his movement is promising…what I noticed is that he still gets nervous at some key points but improvement showed in that respect as well…all in one, very good performance…Rafa seems to show improvements in every aspect of his game compared to the clay court season…maybe Rafa just got bored with playing on clay and is now enjoying the challenge on grass…we should be pleased with our grass court guru… 🙂
Vamos Rafa!
to be entirely serious now….I have thought for a good while that rafa actually suffers most from nerves on the clay as he is most under pressure to get results there as well as being under such incredible media scrutiny. every loss on clay is treated as if his career is over and it must be very difficult to be surrounded by journos and media all the time pronouncing on, and predicting, your imminent doom.
I fully agree…exactly my thinking…
BTW, must admit I am surprised at Tomic being gracious in defeat and looking very mature for a change…kudos to that…
yes nice to see….thought that rafa was genuinely warm in his good wishes….i know he is always gracious (rafa i mean…) but seemed a bit more than that….
bernie was dealt a pretty bum hand with his psycho father….
Rafa and F Lopez have forfeited the dubs semis match, good move……..
Good.
Rafa vs Monfils
oh good, relieved to hear it….glad that rafa is thinking about himself rather than others for a change….
For a change? Nope.
Blister, blister go away!
Ricky, please pick La Monf………….
#Jinxings
I am relieved to know that Rafa has withdrawn from the doubles. He doesn’t need to push himself when he’s nursing a blister. His priority is singles!
I think Monfils is going to be a good match. He’s playing well now. I think he will give Rafa a challenge.
I voted in the poll for Rafa in three sets! Yay for me!
I also voted for rafa in 3 😉 doing the same for tomorrow’s match
[polldaddy poll=8927920]
OOP for Saturday:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHUR4ojW8AA5F-r.png
Despite his hard slog, Nadal is confident with his game ahead of Wimbledon and after a poor clay season where he was dethroned as French Open champion.
“I’m feeling strong and I’m motivated, I hope to have a good second half of the season. I played well today. It was a good match for me.
View galleryFrance's Gael Monfils in action during his quarter-final …
France’s Gael Monfils in action during his quarter-final against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschre …
“I had a great first set and in the second he played well. My game was at a good level, I’m happy with how I handled things. It was a very positive win, a good one for me.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOmOkE8N0oQ
thank you for posting that vamosrafa..!!
bravo!
vamosrafa,
You’ve been great about posting the highlights of Rafa’s match for those of us who could not see it live. I was able to see it tonight on the tennis channel. Finally! There were some very good things to take out of this match. 🙂
Some quotes from Rafa’s post-match press conference.
Tennis TourTalk, June 12, 2015:
¤¤ “I played a good match. I had my chances, also match point in the second set but Bernard played a fantastic set. I played with the right tactic, being aggressive with a good level of tennis. I am very happy to be in the semi-finals,” Nadal told afterwards. “First few months of the season haven’t been good. I was too nervous on court, but I feel that I can play better again but I do not exactly know where I am. I think I am playing well at the moment and just try to continue. I will fight to get into the final. I feel strong and have enough motivation to keep going,” the Spaniard said and hopes for a better second half of the season. At the moment, Nadal feels tired after two long matches within the last two days. “It will not make a difference tomorrow, I am ready,” he added on a more competitive note. ¤¤
http://www.tennis-tourtalk.com/?p=2766
Eurosport player doesn’t appear to be showing the Stuttgart SFs live. They’ve only got a 1 hour slot of highlights fro 3 pm – 4 pm. But there is TennisTV.
Eurosport 2 broadcasts the whole event…they will show both matches…the first at 1.30 pm…I have been able to watch all matches so far…
nadline10 says:
June 13, 2015 at 8:20 am
—-Eurosport player doesn’t appear to be showing the Stuttgart SFs live—
==============================
It shows:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHXtxj2UAAAe7_Z.png
Yes I am saw that in the planner and it didn’t say Live ATP …… They didn’t show Rafa’s match live.